We choose to innovate

Being a part of group of young entrepreneurs here in London we came to chat about a topic of copying and how to create forerunner brands. It’s very very interesting topic and happens in every industry, from being a blogger to manufacturing cars. We wanted to write a blog post about it since we have faced it ourselves very many times over the past few years and can again share thoughts by experience. We’ve also covered topics such as running business with your best mate earlier regarding the issues young start ups might face. You can read it here. We want to help and support as many people bringing their ideas to reality as we can. This way we go around a circle, give back the support we’ve gotten over the years.

So let’s talk about copycats. As sad it is, once you have a product or service that people ask for, others will enter the market. It’s completely normal and has happened over the history. However, as much as you want to benchmark others, be innovative and focus on your own brand. Let’s dig deeper…

We’ve seen soooooo many other berry powder brands that have taken everything that we’ve created by a word by word. From copying the images, identical founder stories, reposting our social media photos to copy pasting text from our website. Happens all the time. At this point you probably think, ‘who the hell would do that?’ and to make it even worse, theres many of them.

So, when you create and launch your product make sure you draw your own silver linings and do not fall into taking ideas from others, even time to time that might feel attractive. This way you create your own voice, become trustworthy and credible. And most importantly, you create your own brand identity.

If you copy others, you’ll probably always be known as the copycat brand, since it does show through to customers. Let’s use an oat milk as an example. We all know how great Oatly is for instance in their marketing communications. What they say it liable, it’s credible, unique and most importantly fits for Oatly. When others try the same, it can turn against them, which then, increases Oatly’s credibility. The other brand then have to approach the plant-based milk drinkers from another aspect, with some other messages. And the good thing is, there’s probably room for both brands.

We’ve always been sticking to a phrase: “Innovate, not follow” which has forward phasing twang in it. Obviously, there are trends that companies try to tackle and in the sense everyone copies everyone. By thinking outside the box, you can still be creative with things. Could different packaging format work? Different aspect in marketing? Different distribution channels? Etc. When you create unique stuff, you’re also interesting. When you copy others, you’re a lot less.

Another example, from our brand. When we launched a nearly five years ago, people didn’t even know what is berry powder, we were the first brand taking it outside the Finnish borders. We came up with phrase ‘a teaspoon of the powder is equivalent to a handful of fresh berries’ since we wanted to create something very easy to relate to and understandable. How funny, now every brand out there, uses the same phrase. So here’s a top advise, if you come up with something unique, make sure you trademark it. And secondly, keep putting a foot on top of another and stay ahead. Copycats obviously are unable to create their own unique ways of proceeding so once your brand keeps innovating, they’ll always come after and stay behind you.

So to recap, we’d recommend the following:

Create your own identity, do not copy others. This way your brand identity becomes unique and remarkable. Have your own tone of voice

Be brave, be different. When you create your own stuff you also tap to other segments that might become your biggest consumer group

When you create your own things, you can stand behind them proudly. When you know you’ve taken everything from someone else it’s harder to be strongly proud of it and that shows.

You know you’re doing something right if people copy you, so don’t let that bother you. Just keep climbing and stay ahead – see it as a forward taking force.

Be the example of sharing good stuff – make an impact, stand behind important issues, be trustworthy. In everything you do. In personal life or as a company. Change happens by proudly talking about even the most uncomfortable issues.

Hope you find something useful and interesting from this post. Our previous post got a lot of engagement and we received so many emails regarding the post about having a company with your friend, and the issues that are important to keep in mind. So if you have any thoughts about this post, want to share your own stories and experiences or if we can help you with anything, please do not hesitate to get in touch, either via email info@arcticpowerberries.com, the message box HERE or through our social media channels: Instagram @arcticberries, FB: Arctic Power Berries.